Club honours Anzacs

DAVID HALL28 Apr 2014, 3:43 p.m.

KIAMA Cricket Club is looking forward to being part of the new state government initiative United We Stand, which encourages local sporting clubs to engage in Centenary of Anzac festivities during the next year.

Secretary of Kiama Cricket Club Brendan Barr, president Matt O'Brien, Minister for Citizenship and Communities Victor Dominello, Member for Kiama Gareth Ward, Kiama club captain Eric Davies and director John Dawson in front of the Kiama Memorial Arch last week. Picture: ALBEY BOND

KIAMA Cricket Club is looking forward to being part of the new state government initiative United We Stand, which encourages local sporting clubs to engage in Centenary of Anzac festivities during the next year.

Kiama MP Gareth Ward and the Minister for Citizenship and Communities, Victor Dominello joined Kiama Cricket Club members last Thursday to announce the initiative and outline Kiama's plans for celebration.

"Kiama Cricket is proud to support United We Stand," club secretary Brendan Barr said.

"The club recognises and values the importance of supporting our Diggers, both past and present.

"Our club historian Billy Peters is already searching club archives to earmark players who have served.

Peters said the club was represented at last week's dawn service and would dedicate a game next season, around Remembrance Day, to nominate players to dedicate a game to.

"We have had serving members of the armed forces represent our club during its history and it also provides a link between cricket today and the cricket played on Anzac Cove," he said.

"Cricket has been a long established sport in the Kiama district, with records of Kiama Cricket Club's first establishment in 1856, and reports of matches involving the Kiama 'Britannia' Cricket Club in the Kiama Independent and Shoalhaven Advertiser as far back as October 27, 1863."

Mr Ward said he was pleased Kiama Cricket Club had chosen to become a United We Stand participant.

"Our local sporting clubs, through members past and present, hold an enduring connection to the stories of our diggers.

"United We Stand is about thinking of ways to uncover those personal stories and honouring the legacy of those who served."

Mr Dominello said guide would be distributed to peak sporting bodies and made available on the government's Centenary of Anzac website.

"Whether it is a plaque, upgrading an honour board, publishing the club's service history in a newsletter or dedicating a game during the centenary to a local veterans' cause - there are many ways that sports clubs can commemorate our diggers," he said.

For more information about United We Stand and other Centenary of Anzac initiatives visit the veterans.nsw.gov.au/centenary website.